Odyssey Tours??

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Has anyone recently used Odyssey Tours? We're going to be Puntarenas soon and his prices are about $20 per person less than lucky and okey dokey tours. Attractive, but not determinative if they don't come recommended. Having a hard time finding recent reviews. Thank you!

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Has anyone recently used Odyssey Tours? We're going to be Puntarenas soon and his prices are about $20 per person less than lucky and okey dokey tours. Attractive, but not determinative if they don't come recommended. Having a hard time finding recent reviews. Thank you!

Hi,

Meeting you all over the forum, I suggest you have a look on trip advisor, they have very good reviews there. You might find info on other ports as well, see you next week, have you put your names down for the meet and greet and/or sailaway party

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We just got back from Panama Canal Cruise w/ Coral Princess, from LA too Ft Lauderdale. I set up a private tour with Alvaro @ Odyessy Tours on Sept. 26, 2012. We docked in Puntarenas, spelling is wrong. He customized the tour for what we wanted to do. I requested Aerial Tram & Tarcoles River Cruise simular to what Princess offers, as most popular, with no shopping, so we could cut off some time. He added some suggestions, like stopping to look @ the white faced monkeys. So glad we did. We would never have gotten to see them up close & personal if we would have been on Princess tour.

also the crocodial cruise was great & very up close & personal compared to what people did on the princess tour. Lunch was great & included. Alvaro was right there where he said they would be, that morning to pick us up with a sign holding my name. He was also very prompt in answering my E-Mails back, as I had many questions. We ended up being 8 people total from CC roll call. He had nice Air-conditioned van, which we really needed. They had lots of bottled water, soft drinks, & beer for us in the van. So glad all turned out great because I felt responsible for the other 6 people that went with us, since I'm the one that organized the tour. NO MONEY OR CREDIT CARD until after the tour, that was a relief, as I'm not a very trusting person. It was one of the best tours we have ever been on & we would do it again with this Company in a flash. They were recommended here on CC ports & Trip Advisor. I can not thank them enough for a great tour & Thank you CC for the info, or I would have never known about that particular tour company.

Also they got us back to the ship right when they said they would, which is always a concern.

Just back from our Princess Cruise, it was very very humid, we got to see more in less time in the comfort of their air-conditioned van. I can't say enough good things about this company. If you use them you will not regreat it.

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We arranged a trip with Odyssey Tours through Alvaro Ramirez in Puntarenas, Costa Rica for what ended up being 13 CruiseCritic member passengers from the Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas on October 11, 2012. Alvaro made every part of the trip most nearly perfect from the planning to the delivery back to the ship. Each e-mail was responded to promptly, with every request for personalizing our trip met exactly.

We ended up being in two minivans each with a driver and guide. We had several “wildlife” stops to view Capuchin monkeys, crocodiles, scarlet macaws, etc. on our way to our canopy zip-line tour at Los Sueňos. (One of our party did the rain forest aerial tram because of health reasons – her driver took her there after he dropped us off at the zip-line tour) As an aside, the zip-line was a little more “adventurous” than the last one we did in Belize. It was not an easy-going, relaxing zip-line. There were several very steep lines with high speeds. Very exciting for the thrill junkies and a little bit scary for some of us. (But all of us were glad we had done it when we were finished!) After the zip-lining, we were taken to a local restaurant for local cuisine including fish, rice and beans. We all enjoyed the lunch quite a bit. After lunch, we went to a beautiful secluded beach, made one stop for shopping and then back to the ship in plenty of time. Each van had a stocked cooler with water and other beverages. The drivers and guides were knowledgeable, friendly and hospitable. We highly recommend Odyssey Tours as they delivered in every way!

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Was Costa Rica affected by the hurricane? I emailed Odyssey tours on Thursday and am still waiting for a reply. Based on the reviews I would like to use them when the Island Princess stops in Costa Rica in April 2013. I am getting concerned that they have not responded to my email.

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Has anyone recently used Odyssey Tours? We're going to be Puntarenas soon and his prices are about $20 per person less than lucky and okey dokey tours. Attractive, but not determinative if they don't come recommended. Having a hard time finding recent reviews. Thank you!

We toured with this company most recently in March 2013 during a cruise stop. It was a wonderful tour with an expert guide! We were met on the pier as planned - Odyssey Tours was early. Our guide, Juan, was extremely knowledgeable and the driver, Denis, was very professional. Juan accompanied us through Manuel Antonio Park as well, constantly pointing out wildlife on the way. We saw bats, sloths, 3 kinds of monkeys, a basilisk, iguana, lizards etc. He constantly was aware of the time and made sure we would cover everything planned. Lunch was at a family-run restaurant. Delicious local food was served (our orders had been taken in advance). It was very convenient that we could pay with either credit cards or cash. It was an excellent day! This is our third time using this company and we will continue to contact them whenever we are in Costa Rica.

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My wife and I had the pleasure of spending the day in monte verde on a tour in April 2013. Alvaro was wonderful. We were on a panama canal cruise He was very knowledgable, talkative and knowledgable about the country and cloud forest. During our tour he gave us great insights into what we were seeing on the hanging bridges and age us ome fascinating talks about the hummingbird gardens. My wife and I were really pleased with the tour. After we finished with monte verde he stopped in a nice little local resturant and had a very pleasant lunch. I would recommend Alvaro and Odyssey tours in a heartbeat.

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We just returned home from a Panama Canal cruise. (October, 2013) We had booked a zip line adventure and tour with Odessy Tours. Arrangements had been made with Alvaro. The other couples scheduled for our tour did not show up, but we got a first rate tour. There were 4 people on the zip line portion with 4 staff members assisting. We were given a ride to the top line and did not have to walk uphill as those who booked with Celebrity. Next was delicious lunch at a beachside restaurant and a tour of area highlights. It was a five star tour.

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We have signed-up with Odyssey Tours for the Puntarenas 6 in 1 highlights tour.

The itinerary of the tour:

8:30am pick up time in Puntarenas port. At the end of the dock by the gates where we will have a sign reading oddysey tours and tour name ¨6 in 1 All Puntarenas highlights¨

First stop to monkeys on their natural habitat.

10:00am Second stop to take the crocodiles river cruise on the Tarcoles river, bird watching paradise as safari through the unique mangrove forest, there will be also the spectacular jumping crocodile show when the captain of the boat feeds the largest croc with a peace of fish or chicken.

11:50pm Enjoying Lunch at local rice and beans food and also best fresh seafood.

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Has anyone recently used Odyssey Tours? We're going to be Puntarenas soon and his prices are about $20 per person less than lucky and okey dokey tours. Attractive, but not determinative if they don't come recommended. Having a hard time finding recent reviews. Thank you!

We recently returned from a Panama Canal Cruise on the Legend of the Seas. We booked this tour in Puntarenas after reading very positive reviews on Trip Advisor and Cruise Critic. We were not disappointed. Prior to sailing, my questions were all answered promptly and thoroughly by Alvaro. Our private tour was on a very comfortable air-conditioned bus. This was a wonderful tour for first time visitors, since it included so many different things. Our guide was a young man named Ronnie who was very personable and knowledgeable. A delicious lunch at a lovely, clean local restaurant was included. I would recommend this tour highly. It was a wonderful excursion!

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Hello I have been reading a lot of information about odysseytourscr.com here for few months and finally had my chance to go on their tour days ago and had an excellent experience, 10 in 1 day tour is highly recommended.

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We are a family of 4 who booked full day tours and a few airport transfers and port transfer with Odyssey. Our first time in Costa Rica travelling all the way from Asia and Alvaro and company made our experience even better. They were very accommodating to any of our last minute changes and very organized with the tours and very well informed! they can also specially cater tours for you. Their prices are cheaper then others and its totally value for money!

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I had no problem reaching them by email and found them to be very prompt and helpful.

Unfortunately, that was not the case for our tour. Our tour was to start at 8:00 a.m. (private) and I had three vans booked for 20+ people.

Our group was left standing in the heat for over 1/2 hour despite several phone calls where they "were coming".

They showed up shortly after 8:30 a.m. and on the way out, stopped a picked up a couple and added them to our PRIVATE tour. There was no discussion with me about this and when I tried to address it, I was brushed off.

The tour was so-so IMO. I've done lot of private tours and have certainly had better. Along with the first hiccup, one table was not served lunch and the guides had sat down to eat unlike others who made sure that the tables were served and everyone was happy before they sat down. Only when the guides were approached, did the table get served. It put our tour behind to say the least.

A/C in one of the vans was not working well and several people were feeling ill. They were obviously not happy when I switched people and stated the A/C was fine. I took the word of my very ill looking fellow passengers over theirs and told them I was not going to have anyone sick.

the list goes on, but to make a long story short, I've never had anyone add someone to our private tour nor been in a van where it was not working properly.

I guess I am too fussy, but I wouldn't use them again. JMO.

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we have read tons of excellent reviews and only one or two negative so we decided to give it a try...we had a private tour for small group of 8 adults on their brand new Mercedes Benz Van and the tour was excellent with a great English speaking guide and lots of information, the price was very good and lunch included. odysseytourscr.com is their site.

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We did a tour with them last year and they were really good. We felt we got way more then they promised and a longer trip as well. The young man spoke very good English. The crocodile tour was great as well.

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We (4 adults) had a wonderful tour with Rob Chaves of Odyssey Tours & the driver. They went out of their way to accomodate us starting by driving to a local mercado to pick up some items we had forgotten for our cruise. Rob went inside with us to translate and make sure we found what we needed. Our tour began on time, we were met at the end of the pier. We were in a very comfortable a/c van. They provided cool drinks and binoculars to help us enjoy the day. We hit all the points on the 10 in 1 tour. Some highlights were: monkeys & birds in their natural habitat, crocodile river cruise, beach, lovely lunch, rainforest, resort, flowers, fruits & local artisans. A bonus was a visit to local craftsmen where I purchased a one of a kind Nativity carved out of Cedar (also available in Rosewood but more $). We appreciated that these were wonderful handmade crafts, not cheap ones often sold on the street. We also stopped for refreshing smoothies, made with fresh picked fruit. We really enjoyed our tour and the beauty and history of Costa Rica & their Pura Vida lifestyle. I would highly recommend Odyssey Tours.

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I just wanted to share my feedback from my recent visit to Puntarenas port and again how much we enjoyed touring with Alvaro and his odyssey tours, this time we went to San Luis cloud forest park for the best zip line adventure ever and also walked the suspended bridges and saw the butterflies gardens, he suggested this instead of Monteverde cloud forest since the road is much better and it's located closer to port so we didn't waste as that time getting back and forth.

We are now booking our next cruise to visit Costa Rica and from the east coast this time, so I already have Alvaro book to meet us in Limon port since he told me he is running tours from there since a couple of years or so and being very successful thanks to his friendship with locals around that area. I didn't realize Costa Rica such a small country till Alvaro advised me it takes only likely 5 hours drive from coast to coast.

One more time I give 5 stars to odysseytourscr.com and their tours, I highly recommended, posting my reviews on trip advisor as well.

Cheers!

Scott B.

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Review of Odyssey for those looking to schedule with them: This is the second time we have used Odyssey Tours and I can honestly say it gets better every time! We were on a cruise from Chile to San Francisco and scheduled to stop in Puntarenas, I immediately thought of the first tour with Odyssey and how I this time wanted to try their Zip Lining adventure. I put together a group of 25 from our ship and every single person stated that all other tours will be boring and uneventful compared to this one. Several stated that they will contact Odyssey to schedule with them the next time they are there. Can't even begin to say enough about this trip! These guys are amazing, not only went Zip Lining but saw Monkeys, Crocs, Macaws and the most wonderful lunch at a truly local restaurant that was fantastic, we concluded our 8 hr day with a tour around Puntarenas. Alvaro and Diego brothers who are the owners are so amazingly knowledgeable about their country, so kind and concerned about you as a customer being happy. I would strongly urge anyone wanting a tour of a lifetime to contact Odyssey Tours you will not regret your time and money spent! I certainly have not and can't wait to see what they have in store for my next adventure! Their tours truly exceptional, the highlights in life you always hope to experience .

Helpful?

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We've received excellent service from Odyssey Tours. They arranged transfers to/ from SJO to the port at Puntarenas, as well as more adventurous sightseeing (zip-lining etc). Alvaro and his brothers do a very nice job

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Based on recommendations here, we have arranged for Odyssey Tours for several excursions (including transport to and from our ship) in January. Alvaro responds to emails promptly and has been very helpful. Will post a review when we return, but I suspect it will be very positive.

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We have booked a group of 20 with Odyssey...right from the start they were very prompt in their replies and extremely open to please us in every way possible. Will definitely post about our experience when we return but in the meantime I do recommend trying them